The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.5           February 5, 1996 
 
 
Two Cuban Youth Leaders Invited For U.S. Visit  

BY MACEO DIXON

BOSTON, Massachusetts - The Faculty-Student Cuban Youth Lectures Committee based at Roxbury Community College here has just announced it has invited Cuban youth leaders Maika Guerrero and Iroel Sánchez to come to the United States in April for a series of lectures on campuses. The group, made up of professors and representatives of student organizations, is also seeking additional invitations for the two Cuban youth from other academics and university departments around the country.

Guerrero, 20, and Sánchez, 31, are researchers at the Center of Study for Youth in Havana, which, according to information provided by the lectures committee, "does research and provides information on the situation facing Cuban youth, particularly with respect to employment, education, and culture."

Obtaining a broad range of invitations from academic figures - university officials, professors, and recognized student organizations - will maximize the possibilities for the two Cubans to get visas to travel to the United States.

"I'm very excited about the possibilities of these lectures," said Claudia Kaiser-Lenoir in an interview. Lenoir is a professor of Romance Languages at Tufts University here. She is also one of the central organizers of the planned visit, along with Tom Reeves, professor of Social Sciences at Roxbury Community College, and Thomas Bidell of the School of Education at Boston College.

"This is the first lecture project of the committee since it transferred its center to Boston from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis," she said. The lectures committee organized a similar visit by two other Cuban youth leaders in the spring of 1995.

"The biographies of Guerrero and Sánchez are very impressive," Lenoir continued. Guerrero is a student of nuclear engineering and president of the Federation of University Students (FEU) at the Advanced Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology in Havana. Guerrero became a student leader at age 14. From 1990 to 1992 she served on the executive committee of the Federation of High School Students in Havana. She organized an international student brigade of youth who visited the Caribbean island last year.

Guerrero has also assumed national responsibilities for the FEU. She is a member of the Committee on International Relations of the student federation. She is also a member of the Union of Young Communists (UJC).

"Sánchez is second editor in chief of the Avril (April) editorial house," Lenoir said, "which publishes books, pamphlets, and periodicals geared towards Cuba's youth." Sa'nchez has served as a volunteer on the Cuban internationalist mission in Angola, she added.

He took part in battles against the racist army of apartheid South Africa, which led to the defeat of Pretoria in 1988 and set the stage for the independence of Namibia and the overthrow of the white racist regime inside South Africa. Sa'nchez is also a member of the UJC.

"Both have participated in several voluntary agricultural work brigades in Cuba and have traveled throughout Europe," Lenoir said.

Lenoir said the lectures committee is working with urgency to obtain additional invitations by early February. She also explained that because of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations of the U.S. government no honoraria or speaking fees will be given to the two Cuban youth. However, monies will be needed by the committee to cover the cost of travel, phone calls, and other lecture expenses.

More information on this project can be obtained from the Faculty-Student Cuban Youth Lectures Committee, Caribbean Focus Program, c/o Tom Reeves, Room 3-353; Roxbury Community College, 1234 Columbus Avenue, Boston, MA 02120.

Phone: (617) 427-0060 ext. 5151.

Fax: (617) 541-0339.

E-mail "mcd@world.std.com" or "lslater@world.std.com".

Invitations addressed to the two Cuban youth can also be sent to the same address, Lenoir said.

 
 
 
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